Damaged Ayer bridge repaired, reopened

On Friday morning drivers were greeted by a large hole in the westbound lane of the East Main Street Bridge, which is heavily traveled.

DPW Superintendent Mark Wetzel estimated the hole was 20 inches in diameter and a foot deep. There was nothing but air through the steel rebar grate work under the pavement layer. A pile of crumbled concrete could be seen on the ground below aside train tracks which are heavily used by both freight and commuter rail service.

"It was not very safe," deadpanned Wetzel. "There are other holes in that area but not that size. It went all the way through so you could see the railroad tracks."

Ayer Highway crews brought a eight-foot-square steel plate to the scene with a front-end loader to close the hole temporarily. MassDOT was contacted, because East Main Street is also part of routes 2A and 111, and thus a state road.

Police used the town's social-media sites and its Nixle.com text-alert system to advise motorists that the span would be closed to through traffic overnight Friday into Saturday. However, police advised the public that emergency crews would still be able to access the bridge overnight. The bridge is the sole span over the tracks in the event a train was passing through the downtown.

At daybreak on Saturday morning, the hole was closed and sealed.

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Wetzel said he will ask MassDOT to inspect the bridge."I'm concerned because it is the main road in and out of town," said Wetzel. "We need to make sure it's going to be safe and that when they do the repairs it's not going to disrupt traffic for Ayer."

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